The unintended consequence of the recent drag strip shutdowns in Southern California could be a widespread resurgence of street racing, the thing that led to the strips being built in the first place. That’s one reason more than 7,200 people have already signed a petition asking the state and San Bernardino County to intervene in a legal squabble over noise restrictions that ended weekly drag racing at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana two weeks ago.

It was the second strip to close in quick succession, the other being the one at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale. If drag racing also ends as feared outside QualComm Stadium in San Diego, the sport is going to be in serious trouble. It would be cruel irony if this trend led to deaths from unsanctioned street competition, which Wally Parks and other pioneers did so much to contain and legitimize through organized racing and established drag strips. Go to change.org and you can sign up.

I can definitely agree with the fears of increased street racing. People feel the need to let off steam and the local drag strip offered a relatively safe way to do that. And as far as the nearby residents who were there long after the drag strip was are concerned, put on a pair of earmuffs if you don’t like the noise…

In New York (Long Island) we have a farmland preservation initiative…it is about to apply to boat yards as well…the theory is that the county buys the development rights from the owner and reduces the taxes with the understanding that if the owner decides to eventually sell the property, it can only be sold to someone who will continue to operate it as a farm or marina…I don’t know if it might work for drag strip usage but it might be worth a try.

i totally agree. i have a strip 30 mins away that has been going since 1962 and there was absolutely nobody around for miles and miles. now people buy houses nearby then start complaining about noise ! get a clue !

I’m from New York, they closed all the drag strips on Long Island, Raceway Park in N.J. is constently changing noise restrictions. How about the tracks institute the GrandFather Act….the race tracks were there before they built the homes…why buy a home near a Drag Strip or Airport for that matter when you know there is lots of noise, then complain about the noise….almost everyone on Long Island drag races on the street…there isn’t a track to go to except to travel to N.J.and if they close N.J. it will be back to the old days of race on the highways at night….

Hi Tom and Dave, I also raced at Islip,Hamptons and NY National, when they all closed, I have to admit I ran a few races on Deer Park Ave and 109 by Republic Airport after Hamptons closed. Our last attempt for a track was stopped by an “endangered” Fern and Lizzard. Paul

You might be interested to know that Fontana is parallel to the train tracks shown in the picture above! Look on the left side, just a few feet past the security fence. That raised section is rail road tracks. The trains run day & night. In fact, when they run, you can barely hear the race cars!
I’ve never raced at the track outside of QualComm (baseball) Stadium in San Diego track but I know the stadium is virtually surrounded by freeways and elevated trains in the immediate area. It is just a few minutes away from the San Diego (international) airport.
So is it really the noise? If it is, shut down the airports and freeways while there at it!!!

After the last run of strip-closings in California (Lions & etc), we did indeed go street-racing. For one thing, it paid better than NHRA, but there were still open spaces in SoCal then. And the cars were less developed and therefore not as fast.
Eventually a lot of us realized that California is heavily populated by whiners and control freaks, and is hopelessly mis-governed, so we moved out of state, taking our businesses with us in many cases.
California continues to drive off the very people that built the place and made it interesting and an industrial powerhouse, and look at the economic result.

My Reasoning has EVERYTHING to do with keeping racing, drivers, & spectators safe as was originally intended when Wally Parks got it all going. Street racing was dangerous enough even back then (I KNOW as I did that like everyone else and came to the conclusion that race tracks were the only place to “play” responsibly and safely!), but in this day and age with SO many more vehicles on the road and road conditions having deteriorated over all this time as they have, THEN add in that vehicle speed and power being SO much more now, REAL problems will ensue, to be sure. My argument with the noise “stat’s” is an old one that I have mentioned in blogs before and with anyone who will listen !! The Tracks were there LONG before the complainers were, so eminent domain should be the “Order of the Day”

Our remaining local track (Milan Dragway in SE Mich) struggles with local officials just about every year over their schedule. It’s not the weekly races but the special events, nitro and jet cars are the main sticking point. Lots of pressure on the owner and promoters trying to fit the program in before curfew, especially if there are any breakdowns or oil downs.
From what I have read most of the complaints come in from people who bought or built “decades” after the track started operation.

We are still lucky that this has not happened to our beloved track (BIR) Brainerd MN. They have been threatened by the same people that have moved in many years after the track opened.
During the summer, every other Wed. the track is open, and has severely cut down on street racing.
‘Long Live Legal Track Racing”

people that buy in that area get a deal ‘cuz of the noise.later on they forget the deal & demand the noise go away.in the mid 90′s i worked on a project by the mpls/st.paul airport.we demolished 40 home’s &restored the site’s to green area’s.other home’s have had new quieter window’s added with more insulation to reduce the noise in that neighborhood.find a solution!

To all the people concerned, extreme noise is a major problem! Also there are many deed restictions on public file as the the toxic wastes the “Steel Mill” left on site. Fontana had a drag strip before on East Ave. & Foothill Blvd.(route 66),long gone also.
Read wha you sign carefully, the same thing happened back in the 1970′s. I still live here! Be responsible, turn off tv and get involved! Maybe invent a silencer or retrofit the very close FUSD elementary classes for legal limits they deserve!
Love, Fellow American Citizen

They are the same geniuses who buy a home next to an existing airport and scream about the noise.
Denver scammed the public into building a new airport in the middle of nowhere on 26,000 acres owned by speculators and insiders.Caused the failure of the Silverado bank when the project was held up by no major airline willing to commit to moving there.
As soon as the airport did open the first thing you saw flying in there were new slums being built at the runway ends.At Ohare quick buck builders are still replacing the old shacks with crackerbox McMansions.
While Byron is mostly surrounded by forest preserves and the rock river the same thing is happening there,builders attracted by cheap land in the shadow of an aging nuke plant.More Simpson type folk buy into new springfield every year.Weekends have the burnt rubber smell added to the ever present overcast from the plants steam cloud.I’m sure they will soon be blaming the track for their low property value and inability to sell to new suckers.

If anyone is interested here is the website to sign the petition to re-open the Auto Club Drag strip in Fontana. I was out at the Cup race yesterday and Friday getting signatures. We have close to 8500 both on line and paper to get it re-opened.

What’s next…NASCAR, Indy, Reno National Air Racing…Car Shows…Boat Racing. I like watching R/C cars, airplanes and boats, even they are in the “crosshairs”. It’s sad to say this, but the vast MINORITY is always getting what they want and the vast MAJORITY is on the loosing end the MAJORITY of the time!